18 February 2010

Faith


I think that I’ve figured out why I don’t want to exercise. Exercise is hard. I mean, that probably goes without saying. But if I think about exercise from the standpoint of just here and now, it’s not worth it. It hurts. I get all sweaty. I have so many other things that I need to do, that I could do during the same time. Far too often, exercise just doesn’t work for me. (Those who know me well know that I have very little in my life that does work for me, and I still don’t have time to do the little that remains.)

I’ve actually had time to exercise a few days this past week, but found ways to talk myself out of doing anything on each occasion. Today it was paying bills; Saturday it was using the Wii to pretend I was doing something. There’s been an excuse every day. I’ve come to see the NordicTrack as an implement of torture. I don’t want to get back on the horse.

I realized that I really need a goal to actually get me motivated to exercise, and the goal can’t simply be to lose weight or get in shape, or something like that.  It has to relate to something that I enjoy that I believe today’s exercise will help. I need a goal event or achievement. I need to decide to ride the Desperado Dual or the ULCER. I need to determine that I’m going to clear the water ski slalom course this season. I need something that ties in something that I know I enjoy. I then need to believe that I will be able to accomplish that goal, and I need to believe that today’s exercise will positively impact my ability to accomplish the goal.

Right now I don’t have a goal like that simply because I don’t believe that I will achieve a goal like that this year. I’ve officially declared this winter’s snow skiing season to be over before it even began. I’m increasingly dubious of any major biking events staying on my schedule this summer. Stemming from a number of factors, I don’t know how much I will actually get to the lake for water skiing this summer either. And, lacking a goal I can believe in, I don’t have the desire to get up early in the morning, drag my tired self down to the basement, crank up some tunes that I may or may not enjoy, and make myself hurt. It’s just not intrinsically worth it to me.

Maybe I’m just weak willed. Maybe I’ve just decided that it’s okay to live a borderline-obese existence. (Maybe I should find a primary care physician and get back on the statins.) I don’t know. Maybe I just need to figure out how I can believe in a goal for this year that will have the power to motivate me to give up a half hour of coveted sleep, replacing it with daily pain. At this point, that’s going to take some doing.

So, for now I’ll continue to eat a few more calories each day that I burn, and gradually watch my weight go back up. Such is the life of a stressed desk jockey. I wonder when Rubenesque will again become popular; I’m ready.

500 Miles

So, this is my 100th post. I had heard somewhere that a blogger should list 100 things about himself (in my case) in his 100th post. I started the list some time ago with the intention of fleshing out the stories of each thing, but never added the details, and when I started today it became overwhelming and would have been far too long. So, without clarification, here are 100 (more or less) things about Kevin's biking history. If you have questions or want to hear the stories behind any of these, comment, email me, call me, or just talk to me. I'm always glad to talk about this stuff.


100 Things about Kevin’s biking
  1. Yellow banana seat bike
  2. Roger De Coster
  3. Schwinn Varsity
  4. Centurion LeMans
  5. Roland
  6. Trek 830
  7. Elastomer shocks
  8. Trek stolen
  9. Specialized Duralcan
    1. Clipless pedals
    2. XT
    3. Future Shock by Rock Shox
  10. Cannondale w/ bullhorn bars
  11. Giant
    1. LX/XT
  12. Diadora shoes
  13. Cervelo
    1. Campy
    2. Compact crankset
    3. Wider cassette
    4. Look pedals
  14. Northwave shoes
  15. Polar
  16. GARMIN
  17. Ride to Stokes Brothers
  18. Ride to Cook’s grandparents to swim
  19. Broken frame on mission
  20. Free refills summer in Houston
  21. One-handed shift and fall
  22. Biking through underpass in 3’ water
    1. Rebuilding BB, hubs, brakes
  23. 500 miles August 1991
  24. Sandy to Sterling
    1. Fig Newtons near Utah Lake
    2. Not 100 miles
    3. Water from a trailer South of Utah Lake
    4. Downed 2 litres in 5 minutes in Nephi (that’s 100 miles)
    5. Nap in Nephi
    6. Seat too low (by a few mm)
    7. Walking grades
    8. Front light / back light (one each)
    9. We ARE stopping in Gunnison
    10. Headwind down Spanish Fork canyon
    11. BYU campus in spandex!
  25. Deathride to WalMart with Mom
  26. Schwinn Varsity at college
    1. Zip from Institute to Pres. Circle
    2. Lock worth more than bike
  27. Locking Trek w/ bag strap on campus
  28. Big Cottonwood to Amer Fork Canyon
    1. Lost getting down to Park City
    2. Rod pull group through Park City then bonk
    3. Ride up canyon in truck
    4. Calling for extraction near Timp cave trail
  29. Bike camping on Boulder Mountain
  30. First to bottom, last to the top
  31. Broken derailleur hanger in Provo Canyon
  32. ULCER
  33. Desperado
  34. LotoJa (LotoAft)
  35. BBTC (BCC)
  36. New guy who’s strong
  37. Emigration canyon
  38. Millcreek canyon
  39. Big Cottonwood canyon
  40. Moab 3x
    1. “We’ll fix that when we get there… Let’s go ride.”
  41. Never Gooseberry
  42. No brakes on Little Cottonwood MTB
  43. Corner Canyon mud ride
  44. ICup first race
    1. First ride on Giant
    2. Pedals too tight
    3. Wow I know these guys
    4. Two hours for one lap!
  45. Brian Head ribbon
  46. 5-mile Pass improvement
  47. Snowbird mechanical failure
  48. Deer Valley course
  49. Deer Valley downhill
    1. Fix Phillip’s tacoed wheel
    2. You can go faster when you can stop
    3. Stan’s No-Tubes dried out
  50. Early morning winter rides
    1. Slide out on Jordan Parkway wood bridge
  51. Scout 25 milers
    1. Out to Bluffdale
    2. Park City Rail Trail 2x
  52. First family 25-miler (Zion Century 2008)
  53. Biking Moon Palace
  54. Biking Nuevo Vallarta
  55. Ride to Brigham
    1. Nap in the park
    2. Didn’t quite make Promontory Point in time
    3. 40°+ C
    4. Flat on fruit lane
  56. Cub Scout bicycle presentation
  57. Boy Scout 50 miler
    1. Complaining the whole way.
  58. Too many socks
  59. Collecting water bottles?
  60. Lakeside Cycles shot glass
  61. Chainlove.com
  62. Fun print jerseys
  63. Like long zippers on jerseys
  64. Bibs
  65. Workstand
  66. Wheel truing stand
  67. Install new headset & forks
  68. Buying trailer from classmate
  69. Pickett
  70. Mickelson
  71. Asher
  72. Phillip
  73. Daniel B.
  74. Rasmussen
  75. Penny Perkins
  76. Atkisson
  77. Justin Parker
  78. Flores
  79. Brad Keyes
  80. Jarom Zenger
  81. Don’t use bike ride analogies in Sunday school
    1. Or maybe do
  82. CSC
  83. Team Garmin
  84. DZ passed me!
  85. Bikes for Kids
  86. LR cycling club
  87. Team Mata seminar
  88. Dave Shields
  89. Want to see the Giro
  90. Want to see the Vuelta
  91. Kind of want to see Le Tour
  92. Want to see Tour of Utah
    1. Missed half the stage in 2008
    2. Missed half the stage in 2009
  93. 2 years over 3,000 km each
  94. FredCast
  95. Spokesmen
  96. Twitter fan of pros
  97. VeloCast
  98. I have biking blog (surprise)
  99.  Fatcyclist
  100. Finally sold a bike